Last week, I sent an e-blast to the customers within the Authentic Visibility tribe and asked them one question. Given the choice between buying an e-book or a traditional book, what do they prefer and why. I also posed this question at my business Fan pages on Facebook.
Within 24 hours, I heard back from 100 people who were happy to share their opinions. Here is how the numbers have played out so far from the first 100 respondents:
- 51% prefer traditional books to ebooks.
- 34% prefer e-books to traditional books, especailly if the e-books are shorter than 50 pages.
- 15% want the choice of either format.
- About 10% expressed interest in purchasing books in a format that is compatible with a Kindle, Nook, or IPad.
Here are the most common reasons for the e-book preference:
- International customers enjoy the immediate gratification of paying and receiving their product immediately. They also appreciate saving money and hassles associated with international shipping.
- Others in the e-book camp said they consider an e-book an environmentally friendly choice that allows them to print only those pages they want and save the rest to their hard drives.
- When an e-book is longer than 50 pages, however, they are more likely to buy the printed version. Several respondents say it is too much of an inconvenience to print the pages, punch holes, and bind the content in a notebook.
Here are the most common reasons shared for the traditional book preference:
- Many of the respondents to my impromptu survey describe themselves as old-fashioned. They love holding a book in their hands, turning the pages to favorite sections, and writing in the margins.
- Readers enjoy the the convenience of being able to tuck a book into a purse or briefcase to read while traveling on an airplane or ferry boat or set that book on the night side table for reading before falling off to sleep.
- Lovers of real books said that when they buy e-books, they often file them away without digging into them, whereas when they buy a traditional book, they are more likely to dig in and start reading right away.
- Many respondents who prefer traditional books also mentioned how they enjoy sharing their books with others.
If you have a book in your future, consider this “back of the cocktail napkin” research good food for thought to help you decide how to proceed with your next project. And, you might check these numbers against what is really happening in YOUR shopping cart. For example, over the last year, 85% of buyers for the first edition of Bye-Bye Boring Bio (a 52-page workbook) have selected the e-book as opposed to the spiral bound printed workbook.
Now that the second edition (to debut 9-8-10) is approaching over 150 pages of articles, 10 Bye-Bye Boring Bio worksheets that make it easier than ever to prepare a rock star bio for the right situation, and abundant examples to inspire readers to tell their own best stories, I wonder how that will influence format preferences. After all, what people say they prefer and what they actually do are not always the same thing.
I think I’ll tip my hat to my many years working in the quick service restaurant industry and find a way for my community members to get what they want in the format they love best. As my friend, colleague, and mentor Alice Cunningham — co-owner of award-winning Olympic Hot Tub Company — always says, “Make it easy to buy, easy to own, and easy to refer.”
Speaking of book formats, check out this post from Seth Godin on a related topic. Among many thoughtful insights he shares, I like this one in particular:
“All a long way of saying that as the methods for spreading ideas and engaging with people keep changing, I can’t think of a good reason to be on the defensive. It’s been years since I woke up in the morning saying, “I need to write a book, I wonder what it should be about.” Instead, my mission is to figure out who the audience is, and take them where they want and need to go, in whatever format works, even if it’s not a traditionally published book.” — Seth Godin
Authentic Visibility Follow Up Question about Pricing:
- What factor does price play in your decision to buy either an e-book or a traditional book?
- Do you expect to pay more for an e-book because your treasure the immediate gratification of getting what you want now and you love that environmentally friendly choice?
- Do you expect to pay more for a physical product because it has more staying power on your bookshelves and more gifting power as you share your favorites with others?
- Or do you want either choice to carry the same price?
I’d love to keep this conversation going, so please post a comment to the blog. I’ll even offer a “pink spoon” so you can taste what the second edtion of Bye-Bye Boring Bio has to offer in thanks for your comments, provided you offer your email address in your post! Can’t wait to hear from you.
